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Schumer to Join Invite for Netanyahu Address to US Congress After Calling for Israeli Leader’s Ouster
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) holds a press conference in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 23, 2024. Photo: Annabelle Gordon / CNP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is set to join House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in inviting Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to address a joint session of the US Congress less than two months after Schumer called for the Israeli premier’s ouster from office.
“He intends to join the invitation; the timing is being worked out,” a Schumer spokesperson told The Hill.
Johnson reportedly sent Schumer a draft invitation last month but had not received a response.
Schumer’s decision to greenlight Netanyahu’s address came after the lawmaker called for new elections in Israel to replace the prime minister during a March 14 speech on the Senate floor.
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish US elected official, accused Netanyahu of aligning himself with “extremists” and condemned his approach to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
“It has become clear to me the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said, noting the date when Hamas terrorists invaded the Jewish state from Gaza and started the conflict.
In response, Netanyahu called Schumer’s remarks “totally inappropriate.”
“It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That’s something the Israeli public does on its own,” Netanyahu said on CNN.
Schumer’s decision to support the invitation to Netanyahu sparked a wave of backlash from progressive politicians and activists.
Former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner condemned the invitation in a post on X/Twitter, writing, “Netanyahu should not be welcomed to Congress. How shameful.”
Matt Stoller, a progressive political pundit and writer, called Schumer’s decision “incoherent.”
“You can’t give a major address on Netanyahu and then immediately backtrack,” Stoller said on X.
Cenk Uygur, founder of the left-wing media outlet The Young Turks, similarly denounced Schumer’s decision.
“After pretending to be tough on him, Schumer is now inviting Netanyahu to speak to Congress,” the commentator posted on social media. “After he’s slaughtered 25,000 women and children, our politicians give him $17 billion, pass laws making it illegal to criticize his government, and invite him to lecture us. Disgusting.”
In the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel — in which the Palestinian terror group killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 253 others as hostages — Democratic politicians have grown increasingly critical of the Israeli military response in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas.
In February, a group of Democratic lawmakers from 12 states sent a letter to US President Joe Biden calling for a “ceasefire” in Gaza. The following month, several Senate Democrats penned a letter demanding that Biden stop US military assistance to Israel.
A growing number of prominent Democrats have also made recent statements calling to condition Washington’s military aid to Israel and even suggesting the Jewish state is committing genocide.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said in April that there was “ample evidence” that Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Weeks later, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called on Netanyahu to “resign.” She also signed onto a recent letter from several House Democrats urging the Biden administration to halt further arms transfers to the Jewish state.
Polling suggests that the Democratic Party’s voter base has started to sour on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Sixty-three percent of Democrats believe that Israel has “gone too far” in its military campaign following the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, according to an AP-NORC poll from January. Meanwhile, 49 percent of Democrats believe that Israel is committing a “genocide” in Gaza, according to an Economist/YouGov poll.
Amid the mounting pressure from his own party, Biden has threatened to pull back US support for Israel, citing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Hamas terrorists embed themselves within the civilian population and use civilian sites — such as hospitals — to house their command and operation centers.
Corey Walker is a journalist based in Washington, DC.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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